Apparatus and method for inter-chip or chip-to-substrate connection with a sub-carrier
AssigneeVitesse Semiconductor Corporation
InventorsRobert J. McDonough, Weimin Sun
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method and an apparatus where the standard wire bonding of TBGA's is replaced using a solid intermediate subcarrier on which the die may be flip chipped and which may then be flip chipped onto the substrate. The subcarrier has a number of conductors replacing the wire bond. In this manner, a better reflection suppression, better impedance matching, smaller conductor pitch and other advantages are achieved. The subcarrier may also be used for mounting multiple dies in a single substrate.
Claims38
A method of electrically connecting a die to a substrate, comprising:
- providing a die having an upper surface with a number of connecting points;
- providing a substrate having an upper surface, a lower surface, a cavity adapted to receive the die, a number of connection points at the upper surface of the substrate, and a number of connection elements for connection to an electrical circuit external to the substrate;
- introducing the die into the cavity;
- providing a subcarrier including a number of electrical conductors;
- and
- electrically connecting connection points of the die to connection points of the substrate by positioning the subcarrier with respect to the die and the substrate.
A method of electrically connecting a die to another element, comprising:
- providing a die having an upper surface having a number of connection points;
- providing an element having an upper surface with a number of connection points;
- providing a subcarrier element having a surface with a number of electrical conductors;
- providing a substrate having a number of connection points and a cavity adapted to receive the die and the other element;
- fixing the die and the subcarrier element in relation to each other so that connection points of the die obtain electrical connection to at least one of the conductors of the subcarrier element;
- fixing the subcarrier element and the element in relation to each other so that the connection points of the element obtain electrical connection to at least one of the conductors of the subcarrier element;
- introducing the die the element in the cavity;
- and
- providing electrical contact between the substrate and at least one of the die, the element, and the subcarrier element.
An apparatus comprising a die electrically connected to a substrate, the apparatus comprising:
- a substrate having a number of connection points at a first substrate surface, a number of connection elements for connection to an electrical circuit external to the substrate, and a cavity adapted to receive the die, each connection element being electrically connected to a corresponding connection element;
- a die having first die surface having a number of connection points and being positioned in the cavity;
- and
- a subcarrier element having a number of electrical conductors wherein the die and subcarrier element are fixed in relation to each other so that connection points of the die are in electrical contact with at least one of the conductors of the subcarrier element, and the subcarrier element and substrate are fixed in relation to each other so that connection points of the subcarrier element are in electrical contact with at least one of the conductors of the substrate.
An apparatus for electrically connecting a die to an element, the apparatus comprising:
- a substrate having a number of connection points and a cavity;
- a die having an upper surface and a number of connection points, the die being positioned in the cavity;
- a element having an upper surface with a number of connection points and being positioned in the cavity;
- and
- a subcarrier element having a surface with a number of electrical conductors, wherein the die and subcarrier element are fixed in relation to each other such that the connection points of the die are in electrical contact with at least one of the conductors of the subcarrier element, and the subcarrier element and the element are fixed in relation to each other such that the connection points of the other element are in electrical contact with at least one of the conductors of the subcarrier element.
The subcarrier element according to 35, wherein one or more first conductors of the number of electrical conductors extend from within a predetermined area to outside the predetermined area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.